


Tim-bits

by gottabekiddinme



Category: Batman (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: FEEL MY BITTERNEEEEEEEEEESS, Gen, disconnected scenes, forever bitter on Tim Drake's behalf, mostly notes, pieces of multiple fics, spitballing, to be determined - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2018-12-30 18:27:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 3,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12114606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gottabekiddinme/pseuds/gottabekiddinme
Summary: Notes, drabbles, and short scenes for the Bitter Pre-Reboot Tim Drake fic of my dreams, which may or may not ever actually be fully written. (Ah, make that fics, plural.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay listen up fellow nerds, so I have had a craptastic week at work, and I have decided to channel some of my bitterness and anger into the Bitter! Tim! Fic! I have dreamed of since reading the end of Red Robin. It may be OOC, it may not fit with events in the comics (because to be fair, I only *really* got into DC about a year ago), but it will be BALM TO MY BITTER SOUL, OKAY? (BTW, if anyone who stumbles across this has any Bitter!Tim recs, please let me know in the comments!)

Don't show me one big happy, if dysfunctional, Batfamily.

Give me a Tim Drake who seethes with anger and hurt and resentment for YEARS.

Who wouldn't trust any of the others, no matter what they say or do, to spit on him if he were on fire (who's pretty sure that if he WERE on fire, Robin would calmly drink a glass of water in front of him).

Show me a Tim who will not set foot in the Cave or the Manor, if he even stays in Gotham at all. In fact, give me a Tim who moves his base of operations to Titans Tower, where Damian Wayne is tolerated, but Dick Grayson is no longer welcome (because founder or not, it's _not your team anymore_ and _you don't get to make roster changes, Batman_ ).

Alternatively, give me a Tim who joins up with Jason Todd to form the Outlaws, possibly bringing along Prudence.

Give me Dick Grayson slowly realizing not only how damaged Tim is, but that he is losing - possibly already has lost - another brother.

A Red Robin who will not come when Batman calls, who carefully removes Oracle from all of his systems and vanishes whenever any of them tries to visit, who won't come home because he believes, deep in his bones and his soul, that he has no home to come to.

But most of all?

When Dick Grayson asks, "How did you know I'd be there to save you?"

Give me a Tim who responds, "I didn't."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being a little mean to Damian here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nerdlockian7700 recommended Wintersnight's fics in the comments on chapter 1, and I have to second that, because I spent all day rereading "Fracture" and "No Home For Dead Birds" and finding new faves in both "Distractions" collections.
> 
> Updates are going to be EXTREMELY inconsistent, there might be multiple chapters in a day and then months of silence, and if that bothers you, I'm sorry. Also, I wasn't really expecting any response at all, so...hi! *waves*

"You know, you weren't chosen either."

Damian blinks and looks up from the monitor. Drake stares back from across the room, eyes bright, feverish with whatever it is that he's been dosed with (Grayson's voice in Damian's head whispers _why are psychopathic chemists such assholes?_ Damian's own inner voice replies _because they're psychopaths)._

"I beg to differ -"

"Beg all you want. It doesn't change the facts." Drake doesn't rise. Doesn't even try, and Damian wonders if the older boy would have the strength to do so. "Dick, he was chosen. Bruce saw himself in a lonely broken boy and when that boy wanted to join him he didn't say no. Jason? Plucked right up off the _street._ You know Bruce adopted _him_ before he even _thought_ of signing the papers for _Dick,_ right?"

Damian bristles at this, at the reminder that he was not the first, will never be the first-

And there's something harsh, _bleeding_ in Drake's voice, his tone.

"I didn't _want it._ I wanted Batman safe, sane. I tried to bring him back _Nightwing._ But once it was mine -" He doesn't lean forward as much as he _lurches._ " _I earned it._ I _earned_ that R in a way _nobody else ever will. I_ made Robin an entity unto himself, _more_ than just an extension of the Bat. That was all. Me. It. Was. _Mine."_

"I am the blood son."

"You sure are, aren't you." His eyes are still feverish, glittering.

_Where is he going with this?_

"He didn't want you, though," Staring, staring, _when was the last time he blinked?_ "You got dumped on him. Out of nowhere. And what was he supposed to do with you? With a ten year old _assassin_ he didn't want in the first place -"

"Be silent, Drake -"

"You knew, though. You knew you didn't have a place in the family, in the cave, that's why you were so bound and determined to steal _mine."_ He bares his teeth. "And now you're desperate to keep it, desperate to make sure no one remembers _who you really are._ "

"And," Damian licks his suddenly dry lips, "Who am I?"

"You might have them fooled, you might even have yourself fooled, but not me. Never me. I am _watching you,_ little demon. No matter what else you pretend to be," Drake leans back, eyes never leaving Daman, "first and foremost, you will _always be an al Ghul."_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need to hunt up the relevant issues, but I hope to bring the Titans in soon. And before anyone starts screaming "OOC!", let me point out that in this scene - Tim's been drugged.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be warned, this whole scene is essentially vent fic. Of everything Dick Grayson did between Battle for the Cowl and Bruce Wayne's return, trying to make Damian a Titan may have been the thing that infuriated me the most.  
> (And before anyone tells me that my beloved Rose Wilson is OOC - yeah. I know.)

"Word is, you need a Robin to lead this flock. Well, here I am."

"Hell no." Beast Boy says it before anyone else can so much as blink. He turns to - Dick? _Batman?_ He's not quite sure what to call his old friend. "Please tell me you're not trying to do what I think you're trying to do."

"He's got the wrong idea -"

"But," Damian is perilously close to whining. " _You_ led the team -"

" _Led?"_ Gar snorts. "You're assuming you're going to be allowed _on_ the team at all."

Dick stares at him.

Gar stares back.

"Maybe you're forgetting something? Batman?" Gar waves around the room " _Teen_ Titans. _Teen._ Everyone in this tower is at least a solid four years older than him - and that's a conservative estimate. I know what you're looking for here, and I'm pretty sure you're gonna be disappointed."

"What exactly is it that you think I'm looking for, Gar?"

"He won't make friends here."

That statement is more of a bombshell than it has any right to be. Damian looks to Dick, who blinks at Gar, then scans the rest of the room.

He finds no encouragement.

"Look," Superboy has his arms folded across his chest, almost defensively. "I don't like him, I don't want him here. I'm not gonna hide that, even if everybody else votes him in. But leaving aside the Robin baggage - and the age factor,"

"Which _is_ significant," Wonder Girl cuts in.

"The thing that bothers me most is you showing up here and telling us who to put on our roster like you're still in charge."

"I founded this team -"

"A long time ago." Bart points out, "With a completely different group of people. This isn't that team anymore. This isn't _your_ team anymore. Batman has no hold over the Titans."

"I'm sorry Dick, but the answer is no." Wonder Girl almost looks apologetic, but Damian is obviously not fooled, if his scowl is any indication. "Gar's right, he's too young. And too inexperienced."

"I am more skilled," Damian snarls, "and better trained than any of you."

"First, I wouldn't be so sure, and second, training doesn't equate to experience. This is a battle tested, battle hardened team." Her eyes meet Dick's. "Not a babysitting service."

"No one is babysitting anybody." Dick sighs. "Robin has always had a place on the team. The Titans have always had a Robin - he _needs_ to be on the team -"

"That may be the most arrogant thing I have ever heard you say." Raven. She says it flatly, with almost no inflection. "Do you think this team can't survive without one of you?"

"We have a Robin," Superboy says fiercely, "He's just not here right now. You gave him his name," he snarls in Dick's general direction, "His job, his cape, his place, and now - now you're trying to give him his friends too."

"That is _not_ what I am trying to do."

"That is _exactly_ what you're trying to do."

Dick looks around, casting about for a lifeline. "Rose -"

"Don't."

The others look at her. She rolls her good eye. "I know what you want from me. I know what you expect. When you arrived, you expected me to make a scene. Make fun of the kid, maybe goad him into a fight. Now," She shakes her head, smiles a little. "Now, you expect me, as the daughter of Deathstroke, to speak for the son of Talia al Ghul." She looks at Dick as if daring him to say otherwise.

"I'm all for giving someone a chance. I'd be a damn hypocrite if I wasn't. But not here. Not in Red Robin's place. We all owe him too much for that."

 

 


	4. No Birds Here 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As of now, this is a repository for scenes from at least two potential fics.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bunny that wouldn't go away. The previous chapters are all the same fic, this is a different one. I'll eventually come up with titles for them so I can label the chapters with the fic they belong to. The previous chapters are "Tim leaves and becomes a lone vigilante", this one is more "Tim becomes that sibling that only comes by on special occasions". It's mostly worldbuilding.
> 
> Yes, I did cherry-pick some favourite Marvel characters to be Tim's friends, no, they don't have powers here, and no, I feel no shame. :)

Tim starts making plans the second time Damian cuts his line and nobody does anything about it.

He doesn't live in the manor these days, so it's not hard to further limit his time there. Slowly, quietly, he starts emptying his old room.

Dick doesn't actually call him to hang out much anymore, but when he does, Tim starts making excuses more often than not.

"Sorry, I have an early meeting."

"No, I won't have time for lunch."

"Actually, my current case is pretty delicate? I don't think I should bring more people in."

It hurts at first. This is Dick, after all, his idol and his brother. But Tim? Well, Tim's learned a few things.

Chief among them being that he deserves better.

 

He passes the GED with flying colours and celebrates quietly with Tam. She's the only person he tells - about the certificate and about the universities he's looking into, all of them out of state.

Bruce doesn't receive the paperwork giving him back control of WE until Tim is halfway to MIT. He wonders if Bruce notices that the paperwork refers to him only as Tim Drake.

Somehow it's freeing, dropping the "Wayne".

Between his parents' estate and his own investments, he has enough to outright buy a brownstone. He chooses a room for himself (the easiest to sneak out of) and starts advertising for housemates. It wouldn't hurt to have someone help pay utilities.

The first to sign up is Peter. He's from New York, at MIT on a scholarship. Tony, a grad student who's all but adopted Peter, hangs around so much he might as well live there too, and Jim and Bruce (a name that gave Tim a bit of a start upon introduction) are usually somewhere in Tony's general orbit.

Kitty and Jubilation turn up together. They're adoptive sisters, and apparently living in separate dorms wasn't as much fun as they thought it would be (they'll admit to being a tiny bit codependent). Along with them comes Remy, an old friend with a thick Cajun accent whose wild stories about his childhood Tim finds all too plausible, even if he _can_ top them. ( "I warned you I was a thief, mon ami." "I grew up in Gotham. You're going to have to do better than that to impress me. Now put back the toaster.")

He keeps his answers vague when they ask about his family. They notice, though, that he avoids going home.

"Sorry Dick, I have plans for the long weekend."

"I couldn't stay long enough to make the trip worthwhile."

They help him make better excuses.

"Tony promised me a tour of his dad's company."

"Peter and I are going to help his aunt repaint."

 

In the meantime, Red Robin keeps working cases long distance, but has stopped patrolling. Someone new protects Cambridge and Boston by night.

He hasn't settled on a name yet. No cape, but he's kept the bandoliers and staff. The suit is almost entirely black (the bandoliers are red), with a full helmet, and always the precaution of a domino underneath (sometimes Jason has decent ideas). He's under no illusions that none of his housemates will suspect something but, well, he can't just _not_ do it. He'll cross that bridge when he comes to it.

 

His first November in Cambridge, Kitty and Jubilation (they all call her Jubilee, except for Tony, who calls her Jujube) shyly invite him to Thanksgiving with their family in Westchester.

He accepts.

It goes so well that their parents, Ororo and James, invite him for Christmas as well.

Before he knows it, he hasn't been in Gotham for over a year.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bucky Barnes (my baby) and by extension Steve Rogers (definitely not my baby) also exist in this universe. Bucky bonds with Tony over engineering (anyone who finds this implausible should rewatch The First Avenger and then fight me, the boy took a date to a science convention) and Steve is vaguely disapproving of Tony and everyone he knows, but is a fan of Tim's new identity, which everyone finds hilarious.


	5. No Birds Here 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More of Tim in Cambridge.

It's Remy that says something first. Of course it is.

"If you ever want to talk, about whatever it is that happened between you an' your family? You know I'm here, right?"

Tim, organizing his binders for the semester on the kitchen table, gives him a half smile. "I know."

"Also, I hear you're pretty good with a staff." Tim's head snaps up. "I don't get a lot of practice these days, so if you ever want a workout, I'm game."

 

He doesn't know when Tony found out, but Tony doesn't actually _say_ anything. He just leaves Tim stuff. A cup of coffee on the mornings after busy patrols. Armour, probably liberated from Tony's dad's company and altered to fit Tim. A police scanner.

 

Peter keeps the first aid kit in the kitchen absurdly well stocked.

 

Kitty and Jubilee get Tim notes from classes he sleeps through or has to skip.

 

Jim and Bruce tackle him and keep him hostage for a movie or game night at least once every two weeks.

 

The first time Remy calls him "little brother", in the same teasing tone that he calls the girls "petite" and "little sister", he almost flinches. It seems wrong. Disloyal, somehow. But then, when was the last time he and Dick were really brothers to each other?

Dick has a new little brother to dote on.

Is it really so bad to choose some new siblings of his own?

No, he decides, snuggling closer to the girls. This can be his family now.

(Besides, none of these siblings have ever tried to kill him.)

 

 


	6. No Birds Here 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A late Christmas/Hanukkah/Solstice/Whatever gift: three chapters of Tim in Cambridge Mass. We'll see if this AU releases its stranglehold on me and we can get back to the originally scheduled Extreme Bitterness, but either way, I hope you enjoy!

The doorbell rings just as Tim is looking for an excuse to leave the kitchen. There's an intense argument going on about the relative merits of In-N-Out versus Five Guys versus Shake Shack. Peter has yelled at Tony twice now not to 'blaspheme in my cheeseburger church', whatever that means, and Tim, having no loyalty to one chain over another, has elected to Stay Out Of It.

He reaches the door just as the bell rings again and opens it to find -

Dick.

And Damian.

Damian is clearly not pleased to be in Cambridge, scowling in Tim's general direction with his hands buried in his pockets.

Dick, however, has his overeager puppy face on.

"Uh."

"Timmy!" He finds himself wrapped in an octopus hug. "Since you can never seem to make it to Gotham, we decided to come see you!"

Tim blinks. "Pretty sure there's no business around here." He means both family businesses. Wayne Enterprises has little presence in the Boston area, and as for night work - well. That's handled.

"No business. Just you." Dick grins at him, an echo of the smiles they used to share."One night only, we need to head home in the morning."

"Tonight?"

The grin falters. "Is - is tonight not good?"

"It's just -"

"We have plans." Kitty stands at Tim's right shoulder, cradling Lockheed, the stray tabby she recently adopted, to her chest. "We were actually going to leave in a few minutes."

"Couldn't you reschedule?"

"Not these plans. It's Hell Night."

"And we'd better go," Remy plucks Lockheed out of Kitty's arms and sets him down, "If we don't want to lose our table."

Dick raises his eyebrows. "Can we come?"

 

It turns out that they can, because Steve and Bucky can't make it. Tony is convinced that Steve bailed because he can't tolerate the heat.

Tim's tolerance for spice has skyrocketed since Remy and Bruce started trying to outdo each other in the kitchen a few times a week. He might smirk a little when Damian wins (loses?) Meatball Roulette and refuses to outwardly react because to do so would be to Admit Weakness. (Tim can see his eyes watering, though.) Tim takes a certain amount of satisfaction in staring Damian dead in the eye while he slowly and calmly eats his Pasta from Hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not particularly impressed by either In-n-Out or 5 Guys. Never been to Shake Shack. I maintain that the best burgers come from greasy spoon diners and small local chains.
> 
> Hell Night was started by a chef in Cambridge. Everything on the menu is designed to be painfully, tear-inducingly spicy, and reservations are, I'm told, sold out well in advance. It has moved restaurants with the chef. I don't know if the dishes I mentioned are still served, but Meatball Roulette (everyone at the table pays for a meatball, one and only one is spiced to an eight on the restaurant's heat index) sounds both terrifying and fun. The Pasta from Hell is a ten on the index. I have no idea what any character's spice tolerance might actually be.


	7. No Birds Here 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jason and Tim are both my babies. I want to wrap them in blankets and feed them and discuss Jane Austen with Jason and fill the big brother-shaped hole in Tim's life with Jason. I just. I love these two.
> 
> To the point where I will force them into a decent relationship while blithely skipping over all the apologies and amends that need to happen.

"Did you seriously just dump those coffee grounds down the sink?"

"I'm going to wash them down, I don't know why you're so worried about a little temporary mess."

"It's not the mess, you'll break the disposal -"

Tim is almost relieved when the doorbell rings and he can escape Tony and Steve.

He is most definitely not relieved when he opens the door.

Jason Todd is on his doorstep.

Jason grins. "May I?"

Dumbstruck, Tim steps aside to let him in. They stand awkwardly in the entryway for the few seconds it take Tim's brain to reboot. "What are you doing here?"

"I can't just drop by to say hi?"

"No, actually. Not as long as you are you and I am me. What do you want?"

Jason - shuffles. He shifts his weight between his feet, reaches up to rub at the back of his neck. "I heard you left Gotham."

"Considering that you're standing in my home in Cambridge, that should be fairly obvious."

"No, I mean like, _left._ Like nobody's seen you at...work, for a while."

Ah. He's here to find out what's become of Red Robin.

"Still working. New branch."

"Can I ask -"

"Tim!" Jubilee comes bounding down the stairs. "Has anyone made another pot of coffee?"

"YOU DON'T EVEN LIVE HERE, WHY ARE YOU SO WILLING TO DESTROY MACHINERY?"

Jubilee blinks in the general direction of the kitchen. "...I take it Steve is still here?"

"He and Tony have been fussing at each other for about twenty minutes now."

"Starbucks it is then." She turns and nearly walks into Jason. "Um. And you are?"

Tim and Jason answer her simultaneously:

"An acquaintance from Gotham."

"His brother."

Jubilee looks from Tim to Jason and back again. She raises her eyebrows and tilts her head in a way that clearly asks if Tim wants her to stay. He shakes his head and she nods before walking out the door.

"Acquaintance?"

"Since when are we brothers?"

"Uh, since we were both adopted by the same guy?"

"That doesn't actually hold much water, since I was an emancipated minor and you're still legally dead."

"Yeah, about that."

"Oh no you don't." Tim backs away, leading Jason into the living room. "I know they didn't send you as some kind of go-between. They wouldn't do that and you wouldn't agree to it."

"Listen, Baby Bird -"

"No birds here."

And Jason.

Stops.

Stares.

Because he wanted this, once. Wanted the Replacement gone, wanted the kid to stop _taking_ what was  _his._ But now that it's happened, it.

Doesn't seem right.


	8. No Birds Here 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which I invent a tradition for the sole purpose of tearing it down.

Dick is antsy.

Tim is in town for the first time in two years. Home for Christmas.

Dick would have visited Tim in Cambridge for Hanukkah, but he'd been gearing up for exams. He figures he'll make up for it by spending extra time with him over Christmas break.

Except that Tim always seems to be busy.

Every day this week he's spent more time outside the manor than in it. He's spent the day with Stephanie, with Ives, with Tam, with anybody but Dick. He's hardly seen him outside meals, sometimes not even then. He hasn't even been patrolling, and somehow Bruce seems - not okay with it, but...accepting.

But tonight. Tonight is December twenty-third, and they - they have this sort of tradition, okay, when they're both in town they patrol together on this night.

Dick's been looking forward to it all month.

When he sees Tim heading out, he doesn't think anything of it. He gets a little nervous as it gets closer and closer to time to leave for patrol.

The regular time comes.

And passes.

He waits for an hour.

Damian offers to patrol with him, but Dick goes out on his own. Tim will catch up with him.

He doesn't.

But Dick is sure Tim will turn up at the all night diner they always end at.

He does.

Or rather, he's already there.

On the opposite side of the diner from Nightwing and Red Robin's usual spot, Tim is sitting with - is that Jason?

It is.

Dick's not sure if Red Hood skipped patrol, is doing it later or did it early, but there's Jason, in civvies, laughing with Dick's little brother. Ives is there too, and two of Tim's housemates. One of them is named Bruce, he remembers. The other might be the Stark kid.

For a split second Dick thinks about joining them as Nightwing. Then he considers going to their usual table alone.

He spends slightly longer considering whether they'll still be there if he takes the time to change and show up as himself.

In the end he turns. Leaves.

And wonders exactly when he lost this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regarding the Hanukkah mention. I did a quick google search and found that apparently Tim's creator always thought of him as Jewish, although it doesn't seem to have ever been confirmed in canon. I also found speculation that his mum was Jewish and his father was Christian, with some debate as to whether he was Catholic. So my current headcanon is that Tim's mum was Jewish and his father was either Catholic or Nondenominational Christian, but neither of them actively practiced. Tim observes all the holidays but is not an active member of any congregation.
> 
> Kitty Pryde is canonically Jewish, and there's speculation among movie fans that Tony Stark's father is too (I haven't seen it confirmed by canon myself), although Tony himself is an atheist. Apparently Peter Parker is of a Protestant background and Remy LeBeau is Cajun Catholic (don't ask me how that differs from any other type of Catholic). I didn't google anyone else's religion. Again, this is mostly from Google.


	9. Not Actually A Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A reflection on my favourite DC characters.

Jason: *Kills eight people and stuffs their heads in a duffel bag*

Tim: *Is basically an assassin, except for the actually killing people part*

Jason: *Becomes a crime lord*

Tim: *Takes over the League of Assassins*

Jason: *Tries to kill members of the Batfamily on multiple occasions (especially Tim)*

Tim: *Fakes a severe spinal injury*

Both: *Beat down, blow up or otherwise destroy anything in their way*

Both: *Do all of this as teenagers*

Me: BABIES!


	10. Baby Bird

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So many bunnies, so little time.

Red Hood's been missing for a few days now. It's not particularly worrying, Jason vanishes without warning on a regular basis. All it means is that someone has to pick up his patrol.

Really what it means is that Tim has to pick up his patrol, since he's pretty sure nobody else realizes Jason's not around. Not that he's told them.

Not that he has much to say to them at all, these days.

Bruce is too busy trying to find a rhythm with a new partner to worry about his old one. Dick's not in town much anymore, and when he is, he spends his time with Damian. And honestly, Tim would rather gnaw off his own arm than try to talk to Damian about anything, including Jason and his whereabouts.

He sees it on his second loop around Crime Alley. Nothing much, just a quick, furtive movement out of the corner of his eye.

He takes another look, and another.

There.

Squeezing himself into the tiny space between a building and a dumpster, tugging at a stack of flattened cardboard boxes, probably hoping to use them as bedding.

The kid can't be older than seven. He's probably younger. The least Tim can do is offer to get him some food, maybe give him an escort to a shelter. He drops quietly behind the kid, making just enough noise to be heard. The kid spins around, fists up, ready to defend himself or the boxes, he's not sure which. Tim raises his hands and gives his gentlest smile.

The kid blinks up at him and - _oh._

Tim knows those eyes. Has known them since he first saw them through a camera lens, years ago. He would know those eyes anywhere.

"Jason?"


End file.
